The Dragon's Hoard
by Alastair
Summary: She has lived in relative peace in the Makai for thousands of years. While Se was away from her territory, a strange being settled down in it. Alternate Universe H/OC
1. Prolegomenon: Infiltration

*~*~*  
  
The Dragon's Hoard  
  
*~*~*  
  
She has lived in relative peace in the Makai for thousands of years. While Se was away from her territory, a strange being settled down in it. Alternate Universe H/OC  
  
*~*~*  
  
Se is pronounced 'SEH.'  
  
*~*~*  
  
Alpha  
  
*~*~*  
  
Prolegomenon ~ Infestation  
  
*~*~*  
  
Se was a River Nymph, and like most Nymphs, she had claimed a portion of land as her territory a long, long time ago, and like all River Nymphs, Se had claimed land that had a long stretch of a river within it.  
  
She did not have an overly large territory, in fact, it wasn't even an ordinary sized one. The Nymph's territory was a rough estimate of about seven square miles. Se's territory was the side of a mountain of a mountain range. And her river was not truly a river but one of the hundreds of streams that flowed down the side of the enormous mountain.  
  
While her territory was no more than seven square miles, the stream consisted of several other different smaller sub-streams that could have added up to twenty or thirty miles. No one knew the terrain well enough to be able to chart it other than Se, but Se did not care how many miles of streams were within her realm. Thus, she did not bother herself with checking.  
  
At the bottom of the mountain was the territory of a Forest Faerie, Chimimouryou. She had just newly claimed her territory - only about a hundred years ago - and was now sending invitations out to the other Faerie Folk of the region to help her create the first Faerie Ring of her territory.  
  
Of course, Se planned to go, but, at that moment, she had a slight problem to deal with.  
  
This being the Spriggan throwing boulders at her. Se did not bother to dodge. Not because she wasn't afraid of getting a bruise or scratch or getting crushed, but because dodging would have been pointless since she was able to make herself transparent in the sense that the rocks just passed right through her.  
  
He - like most of his kind - had a strange urge to erect large slabs of stone in intricate patterns of circles. He wanted to erect one in her territory, and she was letting him by steering clear of him.  
  
However, ten minutes ago as she had passed by him on her way to a stream that she hadn't visited in a while, Se had greeted him with a, "Good evening."  
  
The Spriggan had paused in lifting his stone, and glared at her, "What's so damn good about it, you filthy wench?"  
  
"Filthy?" She had looked herself over, and noted that she was still quite clean. Not a speck of dirt or grime on her pale, creamy, naked skin. Se had not touched the ground since that morning, and she had been flying about all day. Her pale blue eyes had looked through a portion of her silver hair that she had put into her view, and, after she had confirmed that she was indeed not filthy, then looked at him. She had said, "I'm not filthy."  
  
"Like hell you aren't!" He had shouted before picking up a large stone that he had to wrap his arms around, and chucked it at her.  
  
Easily, and instantly, she had let the rock pass through her, and the next, and the next, and the next . . .  
  
Se was still sitting up in the air a quarter of an hour later.  
  
Her eyes widened when she saw what he had picked up to throw next.  
  
An axe.  
  
Se was not able to let metal alloys pass through her!  
  
She barely dodged it in time, but it nicked her forehead, drawing warm blood. The Nymph scowled, 'That's going to scar.'  
  
"Serves you right! Damned Nymph!" He crowed, "You're bothering the shit out of me! Leave me in peace!"  
  
The Spriggan picked the axe up again, and Se finally left, shouting over her shoulder, "I hope that you finish your structure soon!"  
  
He looked around, and began cursing as he realized that he had thrown a large portion of his collection of large rocks down the hill, which had been the direction that she had been in.  
  
The River Nymph left him to his swearing, and traveled to the stream.  
  
It was one of the streams that flowed down from the north. Se had fondly called it the Northern Lake Stream. It had - because of the sheer cliffs that were extremely rare on her soft side of the mountain - created a small lake. It was right in the middle of the sheer cliffs that looked over it.  
  
The tirangular lake had an inlet - the stream coming down from the north - and an outlet - another stream coming out of the western point that went west for only a half mile before dropping down south because of the way the cliffs were.  
  
Within the cliffs were intricate caves and tunnels that not even Se had explored very deeply. One reason was that the tunnels went deep below the earth. That was where the Dwarves inhabited the deepest darkest caves and tunnels of the mountain range, and she didn't like to bother them because they were always so polite when asking to use her tunnels to reach the surface.  
  
Another reason was that some of the tunnels went under other territories of other beings. Giants, Faerie Folk, Humanoids, and Elementals all shared the vast mountain range and the surrounding valleys.  
  
Sharing as in not trying to take anyone else's land.  
  
Beings rarely traveled into another's territory unless invited. Like the case of Chimimouryou inviting Se and other Faerie Folk to create a Faerie Ring.  
  
They were all very proud of their mountain range. Se had felt it within their hearts whenever she had visited them. Only they controlled the mountain range. Not one Dragon resided within the mountain range.  
  
It was an old myth that Dragons brought good luck, and that lands that possessed no Dragons was a very sad land. However, Se hadn't seen a Dragon in these parts in over tens of thousands of years, and it was still very prosperous.  
  
She idly glanced at the sun, and realized that she had taken too long with staring at the Spriggan throw things at her. It was almost sunset, and she was due to meet with Chimimouryou and the other Faeries. Se abandoned her route for a new one to the west where Chimimouryou's territory was.  
  
As she traveled through the air, she looked down. Below her, she could see other Faerie Folk going in the same direction.  
  
Most deceptively glowed in the faint moonlight that was becoming more apparent. They trekked through her territory and the territory of others to get to Chimimouryou's because they themselves could not fly or because those that could were traveling besides companions that could not.  
  
As the sun disappeared far in front of her, the land darkened completely, and they glittered all the more brighter, shedding an unearthly glow upon the ground that they walked and flew over. A large flock of sparkling Faeries - of which the Faerie Folk were named after - flew up into the air, and she gasped in delight at the sight of tiny lights rising from the dark earth like souls ascending to heaven.  
  
A couple flittered around her, and Se twirled through the air, playing with the most delicate of the Faerie Folk before they flitted to another flock of Faeries farther off.  
  
She landed on the northside of the lake that Chimimouryou had instructed them to go to, and Se found her.  
  
Chimimouryou was speaking very politely with an Earth Elemental that was in the body of an oak tree that had come down from the mountains to witness the event. While not of the Faerie Folk, Elementals were all well respected, and were allowed to watch the making of a Faerie Ring. To anger an Elemental usually resulted in death, after all.  
  
This Forest Faerie was short even for a Faerie - standing at only four inches tall - possessing long black hair, and deep red butterfly wings.  
  
Many of the Faerie Folk were already singing and dancing in a circle beside a clearing near the lake.  
  
Those that saw Se waved and cheered out to her. Se was the only Nymph of the whole mountain range, and also the only immortal. She was one of the most respected of the Faerie Folk and the peoples of their mountain range. Many other creatures had offered her parts of her land, but she had declined them all.  
  
Se was quite happy with her little plot of land on the mountainside.  
  
A Leprechuan smiled up at her, "Dance with me?"  
  
Laughing, Se took his hand, and they danced around the Faerie Ring. Her partners changed so frequently and quickly that by she didn't know when one dance ended and another began.  
  
It could have been hours later, - but Se was certain that it was only a half hour later - a song started up, and then another, and another, and another. Long before one song would end, a whole other song started up somewhere else in the ring. It was a strangely beautiful sound, though not an anywhere near intelligent.  
  
While she would have stayed much, much longer, Se left when the moon was at its height. She needed to go back to her territory. It was the side of a mountain after all, and no one was entirely sure that every creature of the mountain range had been discovered. Whether they were new creatures that came from another land, or old creatures from the bowels of the earth.  
  
In a very good mood, Se landed on a tree in the southern part of her domain. Humming snatches of a song that they had sung, she laid in one of the branches, and soon drifted into sleep.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Se was yet again staring at the Spriggan. He was still throwing some of the rocks that he had thrown at her up to the pile that they had originally been in. He seemed to be ignoring her very existance. Trying to communicate with him was a bad idea, even if she was polite like she had been two days ago.  
  
She touched the cut on her forehead. Se had several scars on her body for all to see - since she wore no clothes - but none of them had ever been created by another of the Faerie Folk. This Spriggan had been rude in her standards, but she berated herself. That was just the way that Spriggans were. They did not like to be bothered by anyone, not even those of their own kind. Spriggans resorted to violence quite frequently when dealing with others.  
  
She smiled when she heard the sound of laughter. Laughter from Faeries. Se looked around, and saw a Dwarf heading toward her. It was Render, one of the Dwarves that were often sent up to her to ask permission to go to the surface while trading with other humanoids.  
  
His clothes were inside-out.  
  
As she giggled, he muttered, "My wife said that Faerie Folk won't bother me if I wear them inside-out, but she was wrong! They won't leave me alone."  
  
"What she meant was that they won't try to trick you into doing anything," she covered her mouth, as if that would help her hold in her laughter.  
  
Then he frowned deeper, "What's with the boy, Se?"  
  
She glanced at the Spriggan, "He's just a Spriggan. They like to put stones into pretty circles."  
  
"I know that," Render said. "What I meant was the boy in the caves."  
  
It was her turn to frown, "What boy?"  
  
Render blinked in surprise, "You don't know?"  
  
"He," Se began, "must have moved in a couple nights ago. I was at a Faerie Ring then. What is he?"  
  
The Dwarf opened his mouth, and then closed it. Opened his mouth, and closed it again. He stuttered, "Well, I'm not too sure. He looks like a human, but I could have sworn that his eyes . . . Must have been the lighting. I don't do well with lighted places you know. I was half stumbling on my way through the path, and I know that like my own home."  
  
"Render? What about his eyes?"  
  
"Hm? Oh, well . . . I'm not sure, but I think that they're red."  
  
"Red?" Se seethed, "Do you think he's a demon?"  
  
"No," Render murmured, "he must be human. Maybe some humans have red eyes. If he was a demon he would have killed me, instead of letting me go."  
  
"What happened? He threatened you?" Se growled.  
  
"Just as I came out of the last tunnel, he popped out, and aimed his sword at my throat. He asked me what I was doing - which is very un-demon-like - and I told him. Then he let me pass. I thought that he might be part of some group that you hired to protect the caves. I planned to ask you about it now."  
  
Se nodded absently, "I'm sorry, but I suggest that your people take an alternate route this time. Until I find out what this person is."  
  
"Don't worry, we'll just ask that Centaur family in the north. Not too big of a route shift."  
  
"It also might be best if you go down a different way too."  
  
He nodded seriously, "I'll be heading off now, Se. Take care, and don't do anything too foolish."  
  
She grinned, "Of course, not."  
  
Se lifted up into the air, and watched Render from above as she flew. Shouting from the northwest caught her attention. Loud guttural shouting, and high-pitched screams.  
  
The scent of fire . . .  
  
"Render! Get out of here!"  
  
He unsheathed his short sword, "Never! I will fight with you!"  
  
She had no time to protest; the creatures of her territory were in danger. Se needed to get to them before any lives were lost, or before more lives were lost.  
  
As she headed northwest, she spotted a crowd of thirty or forty Goblin foot soldiers. They were accompanied by two Goblin warlocks who were setting aflame the trees as they passed through and any creature that they saw were shot at by the foot soldiers' bows and arrows.  
  
Since she was so much faster when in flight, she had left Render in her dust, and he was too far away to see the distruction being done upon her land and people.  
  
She was responsible for them, and they were dying!  
  
With an angry shout that caught their attention, Se threw her hands into the air, and infused the air around the Goblins with a violet mist; terrible to breathe in. She watched as the Goblins fell one-by-one, unable to escape the horrible poison that was the mist.  
  
With a sweep of her hand the purple mist dissipated, and the air below was soon breathable. One of the Goblins twitched as she flew down, and hovered barely two feet above the ground. She heard the shouts of pain from some of the creatures - the others were dead - and the running footsteps of others farther off. Render's heavy footsteps from the southeast, many faeries from the Faerie Ring were running to find out why she had used great magic.  
  
And the faint - very faint footsteps of another from the northeast. From the lake and the caves that led to the Dwarven cities far below. From where Render had said that boy was. Whoever owned the feet creating the sound of footfalls wasn't heading in her direction though, but to the north of her. He was moving much too fast. Surely, a boy would never have enough time to develop such speed. Especially a human boy, but Render had said that he saw red eyes. Se had never heard of a human having red eyes. Of course she didn't involve herself with humans very often, so she couldn't be sure.  
  
She ignored the footsteps to attend to the injured Faerie Folk and other mystical creatures that had taken the brunt of the Goblins' assault. Se sat on the ground, cradled a Faerie in her lap.  
  
The Faerie Folk from the Faerie Ring reached her before Render, being fleet of foot. Immediately, they set to work helping the injured. Render came huffing down the hill behind them several minutes later.  
  
He gasped, "Goblins! By all things good! Goblins! What are they doing here?!"  
  
Se took a deep breath to calm herself, and she continued with a bitter note, "Besides, burning my plants and trees, and killing my people? I don't know, but what else are they good for?"  
  
Render frowned, "I'm so sorry, Se."  
  
"For what? You did nothing," she tried to smile, but it failed miserably.  
  
"I don't . . . Watch out!"  
  
Se turned sharply to see the blade of a sword heading straight for her head!  
  
At the last moment, another sword knocked it out of the way. At first, Se thought that it had been Render, but when she looked again, she realized that she did not recognize the sword that saved her life, or he that possessed it.  
  
His back was to her, facing her attacker. He wore a black shirt and pants with a sleeveless red overshirt. It looked almost like a dress because it went to the middle of his shin, but there wasn't any cloth covering the sides of his pantlegs, so she knew what color they were. A white sash served as his belt, and another was wrapped around his neck to keep warm. His hair flared up like a sole flame. The sun was shining through it, and Se could see that it was not black, but a beyond midnight blue.  
  
A grunt from his opponent drew her attention from him. A Minotaur. A hulking mass of muscle with the head of a bull, and the body of a human, he was hideous. His skin was dark brown almost completely black, and his eyes glowed a strange yellow. His privates were barely covered by a dirty loin cloth. As he shifted from foot to foot, she could see his genitals swing in and out of view.  
  
He grunted, "I recognize your face. They put your picture up everywhere, boy. They're willing to pay real good for you. You better be good, and let me take you home, or I'll have to beat your pretty face in." The Minotaur was speaking in his native tongue, and it seemed as if he was more talking to himself than the boy. While it was not a tongue that she had even heard before, Se knew it. Se magically knew all languages ever spoken.  
  
The boy surprisingly replied in the same tongue; it sounded strange in his deep voice. He needed a smooth language, not the harsh raspy sound of the Minotaurs' language. "I won't be taken back."  
  
He blinked his yellow eyes in surprise, and then laughed, "Who's going to stop me? A puny little human like you?"  
  
"Human?" He chuckled darkly, and a shiver ran up her spine, "I guess that I do look human."  
  
"All right, little human boy, I'm going to take you back now," he said leaning forward to grab his shoulder. As he did this, he laughed, "Too bad that you stopped my sword. I could have gotten good money from that pretty Nymph. They stay warm, you know. Even after they're dead. I could have found a use for it if no one wanted to pay for it."  
  
The boy snarled, and swatted his hand away, "You'd need a dead Nymph to fuck, wouldn't you? Not even your own hideous kind would bed you! Disgusting beast!"  
  
The Minotaur growled, and took his sword from the ground, swinging at the boy's head, "Die!"  
  
Se covered her eyes, and cried out nothing, as did several other Faerie Folk. When they did not heard the sound of steel colliding with flesh, they uncovered their eyes.  
  
However, it was not the boy's flesh that had met the cold blade of the Minotaur's sword.  
  
The boy was standing behind the Minotaur. His sword had stabbed into the Minotaur's back, and the end of the sword was sticking out his chest.  
  
He gasped several times, blood trickling out the side of his mouth, "You . . . should . . . you should be . . ."  
  
"Dead?" He pulled his sword out, and watched with a disinterested glaze as the Minotaur collapsed to the ground, lifeless.  
  
Faintly, Se noticed that his bangs were in the shape of a star outlined with white - almost silver - hair. His forehead was covered with a white bandana, and . . .  
  
His eyes were alizarin, the darkest of reds.  
  
*~*~*  
  
Prolegomenon ~ Infestation  
  
*~*~*  
  
Omega  
  
*~*~* 


	2. Chapter One: Sericeous

*~*~*  
  
The Dragon's Hoard  
  
*~*~*  
  
She has lived in relative peace in the Makai for thousands of years. While Se was away from her territory, a strange being settled down in it. Alternate Universe H/OC  
  
*~*~*  
  
Alpha  
  
*~*~*  
  
Chapter One ~ Sericeous  
  
*~*~*  
  
She stood calmly, trying not to let the strange boy know that she was very shaken up. The Minotaur had scared her out of her wits, and he surely wasn't helping matters with his dark blue hair, and red eyes. Se was fairly certain that she had heard that human hair was more in the earth tones. And the more that she thought of it, she was also more certain that humans didn't have red eyes. Definately not such dark red eyes as to seem to glow whenever the sunlight hit them just so.  
  
A demon. What else could he have been? Maybe even a Devil.  
  
Scowling to show her displeasure to the creature, she spoke in the speech used more often by demons, Demoniac. She hated using this tongue; it was gruff, and not at all something that she liked to communicate with, so she only spoke in it when speaking with demons, or other beings that she wasn't particularily pleased with. "Your kind is not welcome in these parts, demon. Though . . ." her scowl deepened, "Though you saved my life from the Minotaur, I must ask you to leave these lands. To find easier game. We will not bend to you or any minions that you have brought to our lands."  
  
He raised one delicate eyebrow, and asked in basic human speech in an almost mocking tone, "Demon?"  
  
Se refused to deter from the language that she had chosen, "I certainly have never seen a human with red eyes. It's obvious that you are a demon."  
  
"I am not a demon," he said in the Faerie Tongue.  
  
Gasps escaped from the Faerie throats around them, and Se tried to show that she was unruffled by his display of knowledge of the language. It succeeded, but the stranger seemed to see through it, and he chuckled. Only Faeries and the very educated knew the Tongue of the Faerie Folk, so he was probably an old creature. The Faerie Tongue did suit his smooth voice, but if he did turn out to be a Devil of some sort then he had no right to speak in it.  
  
"Then what is your business here if not to draw out every black thing on this earth to set loose upon us?"  
  
He scowled slightly, looking at the bodies about him askance - pausing slightly when his eyes trailed over the Faerie bodies - and said in the Faerie Tongue, "I did not mean to cause any deaths here. I will leave if you still wish to not see my face."  
  
This caused Se to pause, and she cleared her voice, claiming in the simple human tongue, "I propose a mind probe. If you are not a demon or any other evil creature, you may stay as long as you like . . . you did save my life."  
  
He was silent for a long time before declaring in the human tongue, following her example, "I propose a Doushi."  
  
Se's heart stopped as all around her the chattering of the other creatures ceased. He spoke of an ancient act that none but the most oldest of creatures knew about, which included Devils, Faeries, Some Elves, Phoenixes, the occasional odd human mage, and several other creatures of old age or immortality.  
  
Doushi - in the ancient tongue - roughly meant 'same mind' or 'comrade,' but more often than not it was translated as 'kindred soul.' It was similar to a mind probe except without the telepathy. Two beings' souls would intermingle and mix, pushing aside all barriers that obstructed them to allow a perfect union. There would be no words or images or thoughts exchanged, only emotions. It would allow Se to feel what he felt and whether his intentions were good or evil. Se wouldn't be able to tell what species of beast or man he was though since no words or images or anything substantial would be shared between them. It was supposed to be a very intimate joining, and most couples used it as a means of marriage - those with the ability to do a Doushi *and* knew of its existance.  
  
Beginning to breathe again, Se asked in the calmest voice that she could muster, "What have you to hide? Or are you really just proposing to me?"  
  
"I have much to hide," he said.  
  
A Doushi had a side effect, one that the married couples liked a lot - another reason why they did the Doushi. The two souls would be bonded forever. Se assumed that they would break away before the Doushi would become permanent, but there was a side effect to breaking away too. Riku meant 'agony of separation,' and it was what the separation before becoming permanently bonded was called. Se wasn't exactly certain what happened, but it was usually very painful, and the amount of pain was usually distributed evenly between the Doushi participants.  
  
However, she had heard that the full force of the Riku could be distributed in any way.  
  
"I will take the full brunt of the Riku," he stated, sheathing his sword.  
  
She took a deep breath, trying not to shake, and she thought that she pulled it off, but the red eyes of the stranger made her rethink that. *He* certainly saw something. "If you are any type of evil creature, you will bear all of it, but if you are not-"  
  
"I will give you a little, but nowhere near half or even a quarter." Se opened her mouth to protest, but he held out a hand to prevent her from speaking, "No. We will do it as such, or not at all."  
  
"Which makes me wonder why I should even do a Doushi with you. I do not wish any harm done to you if you are a good-loving creature. Why do we not do the mind probe? There would be less risk."  
  
"Suffice it to say that I just don't like mind probes."  
  
"Which then makes me wonder why I should even try to find you out."  
  
[It'll eat away at you,] something seemed to say in her mind; surprisingly, in the same voice as the stranger standing in front of her. [What would I do if you let me go without checking to see if I was good or evil? Would I continue on my merry little way or would I go find some other Nymph like you and . . . ?]  
  
[You wouldn't. I think that I know a little bit of you by now,] telepathy. He knew telepathy? That narrowed her down to what kind creature he might be, but then again, there were hundreds of magical creatures with telepathic abilities.  
  
"So what then? You think you know me now," he grinned, showing off a bright white smile of fangs. "What are you going to do?"  
  
"If you harm *anything* in my realm, your people will have to scrape you off a rock to properly bury you."  
  
Se just turned, and floated away, not even stopping to listen to him murmur, "Even if my people did bury their dead, they wouldn't want to bury me."  
  
*~*~*  
  
Se held back a giggle as she watched a group of Faeries from afar 'at work.' She was currently high above in a tree, overlooking the tiny miscreants as they went from one end of the home to another, carrying sleeping garden snakes from the small garden over to the laundry basket filled with clothes. These garden snakes were completely harmless, but they had a defense mechanism against other creatures. Their skin looked exactly like a Golden Baby's which was one of the most poisonous snakes of the mountain range and surrounding lands. They were similar sizes too. Except for the darker yellow stripe on the garden snake's head, one would mistake it for a Golden Baby.  
  
It would shock the housewife for all of a few minutes, but it was worth it to see the look on her face. Or so the more tiny of the Faerie Folk said.  
  
The Faeries scattered when they heard the housewife start walking outside the back door. The old woman whistled quite happily as she walked over to the basket, bent over it to take out a load of wet clothes inside to hang them up, and shrieked to the high heavens.  
  
Her husband stumbled out with an old sword in hand, looking about for enemies, and then she began to laugh, exclaiming, "Oh! It's those delightful Faeries again! They decided to come pay another visit!"  
  
Her husband grumbled something under his breath, and then said, "Delightful! Ha!"  
  
"Oh, hush, Giun! They don't do any harm!"  
  
"They do *me* harm! Causing my heart to ache every half hour is doing me harm!"  
  
"Nonsense, Giun! They remind me of our nephew!"  
  
Giun got quiet, and kicked at a tuft of grass before murmuring, "That's what you said about that boy."  
  
Boy?  
  
"Yes . . . I did, but he was much more polite than our boy."  
  
"A lot more."  
  
She sighed softly, "He seemed like such a nice boy. I would have liked it if he settled down with us; he seemed like he needed a good home. He might have stayed a bit longer if you hadn't scared him away."  
  
"Daradara, I did no such thing-"  
  
"You did! You were so suspicious about the poor boy that he ran off!" She sighed rather dramatically, and said, "He needed a mother to take care of him!"  
  
"No," Giun mumbled, "you need a son that you can look after."  
  
Daradara didn't say anything; she just huffed, and began hanging up the wet laundry, ignoring the harmless golden garden snakes.  
  
Giun and Daradara Fukikaeban were two of about ten humans that lived within a five mile radius of the mountain range. They were an old couple that had moved out there when they had married. Since the two were never able to reproduce, they never had any children, so when their nephew had been sent to down to live with them, Yuusuke Urameshi was a blessing. He died when he was only fourteen from a troll that had come up from the caves in Se's territory. Yuusuke had gone up to the Northern Lake Stream to see if he could see a dwarf one day, and then the next moment the troll lightly brushed him aside, snapping his neck. He probably didn't even know what had hit him.  
  
Since he had died in her territory, Se had taken it upon herself to carry him to his aunt and uncle. It was one of the few times that she had ever touched another being that wasn't from the Faerie Folk. The other experiences were just as unpleasant.  
  
Se brushed away bad memories, and tried to make sense of what the couple had just said. So, the stranger had passed through Chimimouryou's territory before going into Se's? And he hadn't caused the couple any harm. Daradara had even seemed to like him, though Giun was suspicious of him, but that was just Giun, and he had never been right about the characteristics of anyone before.  
  
Then Giun said, "He had strange eyes, Daradara. Unnatural."  
  
"So, he wasn't human! Who cares?! He was a nice boy!"  
  
"I think that *he* was the one that brought these Faeries down upon us!"  
  
"That's foolishness, and you know it."  
  
"What if he was some incubus or something else strange and wrong?"  
  
Daradara snorted, "Then you would have taken care of him, and that would have been that, but he didn't try to take our lives at all. He went around the house and helped out, and all you could say to him was, 'That's not the way we stack our wood,' or 'You stupid boy, you can't do anything right.' You said the silliest things to him, Giun, changing your mind every day! 'Don't sit at the table first! That's the man of the house's honor!' 'Don't eat first! Let Daradara have a bite first!' Or my personal favorite: 'Just sit down, and get out of the woman's way! She's setting the table, and doesn't need you to trip over!' The boy was only helping me!"  
  
"What if he was a Devil, Daradara? His eyes!"  
  
"So what? He never touched a hair on our heads."  
  
"Then we aided the evil arts themselves by helping him!"  
  
At this Daradara turned around, and appeared to look deep into Giun's soul as she said, "I helped a poor boy who was alone in this world, Giun. He needed a soft hand to show him that this world isn't all it's cracked up to be. It *can* be good to a person sometimes. Be he man or beast or Angel or Devil, I'd do it again."  
  
And Daradara had the last word.  
  
Se jumped at the touch of a hand on her shoulder, and she smiled when she saw that it was only Chimimouryou. The tiny Faerie murmured, "You've been sitting there for an hour, Se. Are you all right?"  
  
"Yes . . . Yes, I'm fine," she said. "Would you like to come to my territory? There aren't any humans to have fun with, but I have some fine Faerie Drink for us to dabble in."  
  
"No, thank you, Se . . . I think that you have a more pressing matter to attend to."  
  
So, she knew too. Se's attempt to invite the younger Faerie over to avoid her other duty had been seen through. That's how flustered Se was over the pressing matter in question. Now, when Se returned home, she wouldn't have anything to do except what was expected of her. What had been expected of her for some time.  
  
She hadn't thought of the stranger in her realm in over half a year. However, if she could be totally truthful with herself, Se would have admitted that she had thought of him every day, and that she hadn't thought of him for so long of a time in over half a year. Every half year or so of the past six years, Se would go up to the northern parts of her territory to the Northern Lake Stream, and ask him what he was doing in her territory. When he wouldn't answer, she would propose a mind probe.  
  
Then he would get a strange look in his dark eyes, and then he would murmur another proposal of a Doushi, which she would down right refuse. Whenever Se came back from their meeting every half year, she always felt like someone was giggling in the pit of her stomach.  
  
A Doushi was also a form of marriage after all, however, that part didn't seriously start to get to her until the last couple times she had approached him.  
  
The last two times that Se had gone to the Northern Lake Stream, she had caught the stranger while he was bathing in the lake. While nudity usually didn't bother her, the only things that Se could think about were what the Faeries had said about him. When he had first appeared, she had asked some Faeries to watch him to see if he would do anything. However, either they didn't understand what exactly she had asked of them or they just wanted to see her blush - which was the most likely of the two - because all they had reported was how smooth his skin was, or how the few scars only made him more handsome, or how large he was.  
  
Se could admit that his scars were lovely on his torturously smooth skin, but the last part she hadn't been able to determine on her own. What she had thought about the most when she had caught him in the act of bathing was that if he would only turn or twist just so, or stand up that she would be able to see this strange marvel whole.  
  
Her journey to the Northen Lake Stream to visit the strange boy was slow, and she would often look down at the landscape below her, trying to think of what she would do tomorrow about an ailing tree, or a sick Faerie child, but her mind kept turning back to him and his lovely alizarin eyes in the shape of large almonds, and his fiery-shaped almost ebony blue hair. Did his skin really feel as soft as it look?  
  
Frustrated with her lack of restraint, Se landed beside the stream that the Northern Lake Stream had created by going in a vague south east direction before joining with another stream.  
  
From her vantage point, Se could see a Satyr drinking some kind of beverage, and sitting on the strange pile of large rocks that the Spriggan had placed down six years ago. They were strange creatures with the upper torso alike to that of a human's and the back legs of a goat to prance around on. He seemed to notice her, and waved in a quite drunken manner. Sighing, she walked northward, ignoring the creature.  
  
Satyrs were rather 'fond' of Nymphs after all. In her youth, Se had ran amuck with them willingly, laughing merrily at their attempts to catch, tame, and bed her. However, she was much more older and mature, now. Besides, not all of the memories of her times with Satyrs had been good ones.  
  
She heard him begin to chase after her, but Se paid him no mind. Unless he had something of metal with him - which wasn't likely - she would have no problems with him. However, she hoped that he did have metal with him, so that she could delay her visit just a bit longer.  
  
The Satyr followed her from a distance at first, and by the time that the Satyr bagged enough courage to approach her, she was almost to her destination.  
  
"Hey, what's a lovely Nymph like you doing in such a dump, eh?" He exclaimed.  
  
Se turned coldly to him, and said, "If you find it displeasing to you, then I suggest that you don't say as such in front of she who watches over this plot of land."  
  
He only chuckled, hiccuping afterwards, "Don't worry, I won't say a thing to her."  
  
Then she smelled the fumes from his mouth, and almost choked on the horrid stench issuing from it. He had been drinking rather heavily - more so than a Satyr normally would - and now Se noticed it as he swayed slightly back and forth.  
  
She snorted, and walked faster. He would leave her be soon enough when he realized that she absolutely wanted no business with him.  
  
But then again, Satyrs were rather vivacious about a Nymph joining in on their drinking binges and fun. It didn't look like he had any kind of weapon on him, but he could be hiding anything flat on the inner side of his rust red vest. And daggers and stilettos would be flat enough to be hidden under there.  
  
The River Nymph had just reached the outskirts of the area that she had been avoiding when she felt the wind shift just slightly.  
  
He had no finesse.  
  
A wild stab was made at her side, and Se dodged him immediately, floating a couple inches into the air and away from him. Hovering over the ground to a safe distance a couple feet away from him, she gauged his weapon, and then blinked in surprise. A silver dagger with sapphires embedded in the hilt. It was hideously gaudy. And it was heading straight at her.  
  
She quickly dodged the blade, and keeled away, staring him down. Her attempt at this proved futile though because he was much too wasted to realize that he was in trouble.  
  
Scowling slightly to show her displeasure, Se lifted her hand over her head, and summoned the wind to aid her. It swept him up in its grasp, and flung him into the rock face.  
  
He groaned before standing up, and laughing, "You must be old to know a pretty little trick like that one."  
  
Se did not answer him, only raising her other hand, bringing a wave of water from the stream to hover over her head menacingly. The Satyr stared up at the wave of water, and hiccuped, "Damn, bitch . . ."  
  
"Leave me alone."  
  
He narrowed his eyes at her, and laughed, "Now, why would I want to go and do that? Huh? You're not that bitch that owns this here land."  
  
"Think again," she said calmly.  
  
The wave was thrown over her head, and hit him straight on, sweeping him off his feet, and into the stream.  
  
"Good job."  
  
Se turned sharply to stare at the owner of that silky voice, and shuddered visibly.  
  
*-*-*  
  
Chapter One ~ Sericeous  
  
*-*-*  
  
Omega  
  
*-*-* 


End file.
